Three Sisters of Hope: A New Beginning
by Ravengrl
Summary: Brenna and Staci have a new task...save Jess from the Daein soldiers. Of course, all of them, will have to face many obstacles and a lost secret about the sisters is revealed that could change everything they know about themselves and their purpose.
1. Patience

**Hey, so this is the second part of my on going story Three Sisters of Hope. I know it's been a long time since I've updated but I think that the end result of this chapter was worth taking the time to produce. I really hope that my readers forgive the wait but I finally have the next chapter up and I hope that you all enjoy it. **

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****Chapter I. Patience**

I watched as Jess was carried away calling out my name. I tried to run after her but my legs wouldn't move. It was as if the ground didn't want me to move and all I could do was stand and watch. The scene around me went black and I saw Staci in the distance. I tried to call out to her but my voice was replaced by silence. Arson, in Pyra's body, appeared behind her and smiled as he pulled her back in to the darkness with ringing laughter.

'Come back!' I thought to myself but they were gone.

I fell to my knees in tears and another voice rang out in my head.

'I promise to come back for you.'

I kept telling myself that he made a promise, that he would come for me, but as time passed, doubt lingered and grew in my mind. I laid down as all hope vanished in the darkness.

I opened my eyes and slowly sat up. 'Ugh, another nightmare.' I thought and stretched my numb limbs. I brushed the hair out of my face and carefully got out of bed. I slipped on my long sleeved green shirt and black leggings. Next I put on my green Capri's and black boots. I brushed through my long hair and pulled it up into a ponytail. I pulled on my open, finger tipped, black gloves and glanced over at my weapon. Ranulf's voice kept creeping in so I sighed and grabbed it. As I emerged from my room, slipping my bow and quiver over my head and on my shoulder, my mother stood at the end of the hallway. She tried to smile but her gaze kept diverting back to my bow.

"Do you have to go back today?" She asked with a tremble escaping.

"I have to be ready in case he decides to come back."

Now when Staci and I came back we ended up in my living room. I don't understand why but because of that my parents now know about the whole sister thing. It hurt me to leave home but I'm 17 and a senior in high school. Besides, Jess is still in their world and both Staci and I plan on rescuing her. I looked at my mother's sad face and couldn't help myself. I embraced her tightly and leaned my head on her chest. She kissed the top of my head and gently returned the embrace.

"If I can come back I promise you that I will see you again." I said, not knowing if I could keep that promise.

My mom tried to give me a gentle smile but a small tear trickled down her cheek. I carefully wiped it from her face and gave her a kiss in its place. I smiled and she finally was able to let me go. I walked past her to meet my dad at the door. He had more composer than my mom and was able to smile warmly at me. I hugged him as hard as I could and he whispered, "Be safe", in my ear. I leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek before I pulled back. I stood in the doorway looking at my parents knowing that, like every day, I might never see them again. I felt tears start to well up so I quickly waved, turned, and ran down my driveway to the bus stop.

When I ran far enough to where I couldn't see my house I slowed down to a walk. I sighed and wondered about the coming day. I didn't know if Ranulf would come back and after every day that he didn't I grew more impatient. As I reached the bus stop I saw a familiar face leaning against the dead-end sign. Staci stood there in a fire red tank top, black Capri's, and black sneakers. She wore a long black coat that came to her knees and black gloves that exposed her fingers, like mine. She wore her hair down with a fiery red headband to keep the hair out of her face. When I approached her she glanced up in my direction and sighed.

"You're late again."

"Sorry, I didn't hear the alarm." I said hesitantly. 'Man I wonder how long she's been waiting here?'

"40 minutes…" She said and smiled at me. I was about to complain about her being in my head again but thought better of it and brushed it off. She stood straight and crossed her arms in triumph as if to show that she won, yet again, our little "mind" arguments.

"So I'm guessing that we missed the bus again, huh."

"No…you missed the bus. I just decided that I didn't want to deal with the idiots alone today so I waved the bus on by." Staci said and I couldn't help but let out a giggle. "So we have 10 minutes to get to class…do you want to use your method or mine today?" She asked glancing at her cell phone clock.

I grimaced, "I really don't feel like smacking into trees today so…your method it is!" I said and Staci sighed.

She turned around and stretched her arms out behind her waiting for me. I readjusted my quiver and bow, so that I wouldn't jab her in the back, and I hopped onto her back, piggyback style. She grabbed onto my legs so I wouldn't fall and took a deep breath.

"Hang on." She said and took off at a run. Her body started to blur as she ran faster. By the time she reached the freeway she was moving almost faster than a small jet. In no time our school was in sight. She quickly threw her feet out in front of her so that we would stop. It was the only braking system she could come up with I guess. We were approaching the school when we were still going at a fast pace. I held on tight waiting for the impact but lucky for us we started to finally slow down. Staci managed to slow us down until we were only a few inches away from hitting the school wall. When we stopped we sighed in unison and I jumped off.

"That was a close one." I said wiping my forehead. "I guess that was one of your better stops."

"What do you mean? I always brake well." She said and smirked at me.

"Oh please, over half the time you stop so suddenly that I end up flinging forward into the wall. It's a miracle that my brain still functions."

"Well that just proves that you have a hard head."

I glared at her and she laughed at me but I couldn't help but smile. Ever since we've been back it was near impossible to get her to laugh so when she did I tried to savor the sound. Every day we train our bodies and its hard work. We rarely get to have any free time with school work and training. Whenever people suggest that we get some R&R I just laugh. Our classmates tell us that every week thinking that we could force our minds to relax. To us resting is a waste of time. We train so when we return to 'their' world we can find Jess quickly and rescue her.

"Oh dang we need to get to class." Staci said as she glanced at her watch.

We both ran into the building and down the hallway to get to class. When we returned to this world we promised each other that we wouldn't use our powers in the school; in order to not draw attention to ourselves. Although, I must admit that we sometimes slip and show off.

-Brrriiiiing-

"Ok class, have your papers and lab write ups on vectors and motion for me first thing tomorrow. Have a nice day."

The entire class gave a loud groan as they packed up their stuff. I stayed in my seat and laid my head on the desk in defeat. Staci shook her head as she packed up her things.

"Why did I take physics again?" I asked smushing my face into my desk as the words were mumbled.

Staci chuckled and sat on the desk next to me.

"Cause we decided that we should have the same classes in case we have to leave quickly."

"I understand our intentions…but…" I looked up at Staci with an exhausted look. "Why physics?? Why go through torture when we have enough to worry about already?"

"-sigh- We don't know if they'll come back for us when we're still in high school. We need good classes to get into college." Staci said and swung her bag over her left shoulder.

"But……physics?" I pleaded but Staci rolled her eyes and grabbed my arm, forcing me to my feet.

"Come on…we'll be late to P.E." Staci said and walked out of the classroom, with her sword secured to her side.

I sighed and gathered my things. Now let me explain. We carry our weapons around wherever we go, during class and in between, so that we'll be ready. Of course we had to do a little persuasion with the office and police to allow our weapons in school. Our agreement was if we threaten or use our weapons in any way, shape, or form, we could kiss our education good bye. Now Staci was a little paranoid about this because she thought ahead more than I ever did. To me, school was now just a waiting area for when we go back. Needless to say I didn't really care about their rules and I didn't have the best of moods every day. The authorities said we couldn't use our weapons but that never stopped me from punching the lights out of some people. Of course this was one of those days.

I walked beside Staci and we made our way to the locker rooms. As soon as we entered the lockers every girl instantly stopped their conversation to stare.

"-sigh-, Everyday it's the same thing." I said and walked over to our corner of the room.

Staci followed and we both unlocked our lockers with ease. Staci grabbed her gym clothes and said, "Be back in a jiff."

I smiled and pulled out my phone. I set it to timer and waited for her to close the bathroom door. I pressed start and within a few seconds Staci walked out of the bathroom fully dressed for P.E, and of course she had her sword on her hip. I stopped the timer and she approached me stretching her arms.

"How did I do?" she asked twisting from side to side and rolling her shoulders.

"Uh, 3 seconds…not bad but you were faster earlier this week." I said and she frowned at me as I playfully smiled back at her.

After I got changed both of us walked out to the lineup for attendance. Of course all the guys gave us odd looks when they saw Staci's sword and my bow.

'You'd think that they would be used to it by now.' I thought.

'Give them a break…even if they've seen us every day with these it still would probably seem weird.' Staci's thoughts dashed into my head.

'I know but doesn't it bother you that it happens all the time?'

'…of course, but I would rather save my fists and sword for the Daein soldiers.'

I held in a giggle and the teacher finished the attendance. He motioned for the class to follow him out to the stadium. Once we reached the gate to the track he told all of us to run a lap. Of course all the freshmen complained so we ended up having to run two laps; lucky us. Staci and I ran together at a believable pace, although both of us could out run anyone, especially Staci. We didn't want to attract attention so we just jogged along talking about different training styles. When we were finished, at a 6 minute 21 second mile run, we leaned against the fence and relaxed as the other students finished up. While we were minding our own business a couple of the hot shots, which finish early, thought it would be funny to mess with us.

"Hey…" was all the "leader" said or could say with his limited intelligence.

Staci and I have gotten used to people trying to approach us so our strategy…switch to ignore mode.

"So tell me, how do you manage to beat all of us at the mile when you don't ever practice and you aren't in sports?" he asked but again we didn't acknowledge his presence. "It must have something to do with those sweet weapons you have. They must have special powers or else a couple of weak girls wouldn't ever be able to beat me." All of his lackeys laughed and cheered him on.

I heard Staci crack her knuckles and I knew that if I didn't say anything then things could get ugly. You see Staci is fine when people ask us annoying questions, which happens a lot, but when someone tries to act cocky in front of us she normally can't resist putting them in their place.

'Just relax Staci…they really aren't worth it.' I turned my head to look her in the face for insurance that she heard me. 'Just let them walk away.'

"Hey!" The leader grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face him. "It's rude to ignore someone when they're talking to you!"

Within a split second Staci spun around and socked him in the face, forcing him to let go me. I stood straight and looked at the crumpled guy on the ground.

"Ouch…you know you really shouldn't antagonize someone you don't know." I said and Staci stretched out her hand.

"Hey, what's going on here?!" the teacher yelled as attention of the entire class turned to us.

'Oh great, did you have to send him flying like that?' Staci looked at me apologetically but I just laughed. 'Even so, it was pretty awesome.' I winked at her and she smiled.

'Yeah but I don't think the teach is very pleased with us.'

The teacher and the students all gathered around the unconscious boy on the ground and then looked at us with shocked faces.

"What happened, you two?!" the teacher looked furious.

"They…they attacked us coach. Mike tried to fend them off for us but they ganged up on him. Thank goodness you came over or else who knows that would've happened!" One of the lackeys tried to fake being hysterical and backed up in fear.

'Can I shank him?' Staci placed her hand on the hilt of her sword.

'I wish I could say yes but I don't think that's the best way to handle this.' I sighed and looked at the frightened faces of our peers.

"You two had better behave yourselves or else. You know the rules." The teacher said trying to sound like authority.

I smirked as I noticed his legs shaking. While he tried to lecture I felt someone behind me, reaching for my bow. I spun around, grabbed his arm and shoved him to the ground, pinning him with my knee. Everyone in the class just stood, stunned in silence.

"H…Hey, what are you doing? Let go!!" the boy complained.

"Don't ever…ever touch my bow."

The teacher jumped over to me and carefully tried to address me. "Just calm down and let him up."

The boy quivered underneath my knee and then I felt Staci trying to soothe my mind. I slowly stood and released him. He scampered over behind some of his friends and instantly the whispering began. The teacher backed up and radioed for the school security to come and pick us up.

"I think you two need a break so I sent for someone to escort you to the nurses' office."

"I think the one in need of help is him…not us." Staci said mentioning the unconscious Mike on the ground.

I stifled a laugh as the teacher picked up Mike and started to walk towards the school when a bright red light burst through the windows of the school. Staci and I covered our eyes but both of us could feel a familiar presence in the air. All of the students cowered as the bright blaze settled down and screaming came from the hallways. Staci and I looked at one another and nodded.

"Stay here!!" I yelled at the teacher and students; surprisingly they listened.

Staci sped forward in the blink of an eye and I followed taking my bow in hand. Staci was already in the building when I reached the door but we both knew where each other was because of the connection of our minds. I entered the building and kept to the walls like a shadow, hoping to catch my enemy off guard. As I turned the corner into the gym I saw soldiers in red pouring out of an open, red, portal.

"Daein." I said under my breath but I didn't strike. 'Hey Staci, make sure you don't kill all of them. We may be able to get some information out of one of them about Bengian.'

'Sure no problem…except if we don't act soon then they'll kill the students. They have a bunch of them gathered together on the stage.'

Some of the soldiers started to file my way so I quickly ducked under the bleachers. As they passed I overheard a little conversation.

"So, what do they look like again?" one of the soldiers asked.

"One is medium height, green eyes, wears the red jewel and is carrying a sword. The other is wearing the green jewel, blue eyes, carries a bow, and is kind of short."

I had to bite my lip in order to not yell at them for that remark. 'They called me short. Can I shoot them?'

'Wait until I can confirm that they won't kill anyone first, then yes.' Staci said.

"Hey you!!"

I spun around and saw one of the soldiers on the other side. He called out a war cry and charged at me. I quickly grabbed one of my arrows, pulled back, and shot at his neck. It pierced threw right in between the armor but because of his "announcement" everyone in the gym knew I was there. I ran out from under the bleachers and out into the middle of the gym. The general, who was the leader, snapped his fingers and the portal closed. I unsheathed my dagger and pushed my way through some of the spearmen to head for the exit. I knew that if I had any chance of taking the general down I needed Staci's sword, not my little dagger. The general called out a command and the back line of soldiers raised their bows at me.

"Aw, great." I said and strung another arrow.

As the soldiers released their arrows I rolled out of the way and concentrated my energy. I released my own arrow and a beam of green light, like a lazar, shot at the soldiers cutting their numbers by half. I smiled to myself and hurried out the exit, as the general shouted at the remaining soldiers to pursue me.

'Ah Staci, I think I accidentally could have alerted our presence to their leader.' I hid behind a pillar as the soldiers ran past.

'You shot him didn't you?'

'No…I shot someone else.' Silence 'Hey it wasn't my fault! He saw me first and did that stupid war cry of theirs.' Silence 'Alright…I'm sorry.'

'Thank you. I'll be there in a minute; I have to release these students before they figure out how to use hostages in this situation.'

Staci's conscious left my mind and I tried to figure out a plan. 'If that general has the power to open up a portal, then this could be our chance to get back to everyone…and save Jess. We just have to force him to snap…right, no problem.' I peeked around the corner to check if anyone was there and when the cost was clear.

"What's the plan?"

I squeaked and nearly jumped out of my skin before I realized that it was only Staci. She gave me a confused look as I checked to see if my heart was still beating. When breathed in deeply and then proceeded to glare at her.

"What?"

"You nearly gave me a heart attack. Try to make yourself a little more known when you sneak up behind me." I whispered to her.

"But…isn't that the point of sneaking up on someone?" She asked, extremely confused.

I just sighed and blew it off. I strung another arrow and Staci held her sword at the ready as we slinked over to the entrance of the gym. We peeked through the window and saw the general addressing the remaining soldiers.

"Looks like they're having a gathering." Staci said and smiled at me. "Let's crash their little party…for old time sake."

I nodded with my own smile and we quietly opened the door. We moved to either side of the door and kept to the shadows as we tried to inch closer to them. I stopped and aimed my arrow at one of the soldiers. 'Are you ready?' Staci answered me by catching a little light on her sword to shine in my direction. 'Alright, go!'

Staci sprang forward and slashed through a few of the soldiers before they even knew we were there. I released my arrow taking out some from the other side. The soldiers were in a panic and scattered. The general was furious and tried to regroup his men but Staci and I kept attacking from different sides, to keep them confused. When most of the men were dead the general caught site of Staci's sword in the light and aimed his spear at her back. I noticed him lifting his weapon and followed his gaze over to Staci, who was completely oblivious. I slipped my bow over my head as I ran at full speed towards her. 'Staci! Move!' I screamed in her head but the general pulled back his spear as she turned around before I could reach her. Suddenly a blue light engulfed the room right when he threw his spear, blinding him. I managed to dive at Staci, knocking her to the ground as the weapon whizzed by our heads. We both clung to each other, fearful that we couldn't see anything. A scream rang in the room but it was a man's voice and a thud of armor followed. We both sat up trying to see our enemy but all we could see was bright blue. The light began to fade and as our sight started to come back we helped each other to our feet.

"Man you can't do anything without me!"

"You know, you are really starting to get on my nerves!! One of these days…POW!! Then I might consider driving my ax into your HEAD!!"

I felt Staci's body tense next to me and I knew why. I might not of recognized the first voice but the second voice was definitely Boyd's.

"Are you children done? Remember why we came here."

My heart felt like it did a triple flip and a 360 when I heard that voice. I was impatient for my eyes to adjust to the light so I could confirm the identity of the voice. The light faded down to a dim and the faces of Ranulf and Boyd came into view along with someone else I couldn't quite make out. Staci and I stood stunned as we stared at their faces. I wanted to run at Ranulf and jump into his arms but my mind played tricks on me, saying that I was still dreaming.

"What's wrong with them?" the guy we couldn't identify asked. "You'd think by the way you guys talked about them they would be extremely happy right about now."

"I don't get it. Hey Staci, what's up?!" Boyd asked and gave that goofy smile of his.

At the sound of her name Staci started to walk forward. "Is it really you Boyd?" She asked.

To answer her question Boyd smirked and dropped his ax. He then ran at her with open arms and picked her up, spinning her around, and then finally, setting her down, he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"What do you think?" He asked and looked at her with a tender smile.

She blushed and she gave the biggest smile I'd ever seen in 6 months.

"Boyd!! You're here!!" She exclaimed and hugged him tightly.

I heard Ranulf chuckle and I knew that my mind wasn't playing tricks.

"Ranulf?" I asked timidly but before I could do anything he ran to my side and picked me up bridal style.

"Did you miss me?" He asked but I couldn't say anything. I was filled with joy that he was back but I just couldn't form any words to express it. He gently hugged me close and kissed me on the forehead. "I told you that I would return for you."

"What took you so long?" was the only thing that came out of my mouth but instead of being hurt Ranulf just laughed and set me down.

"Well you two seem like you've done well keeping up with your training."

Staci and I turned to see Shella standing by a blue portal with a gentle smile on her face.

"Shella!" we both yelled in unison and we ran to her. I jumped into her arms and held on tight afraid that everything would disappear. She returned my embrace and then gave Staci a hug as if she were a caring guardian.

"Shella how…" I began but she shook her head to silence my questions.

"I know that you have many questions dear ones but we must return through the portal before my power is spent." She said and the individual I didn't know jumped through the portal.

Staci and I both nodded. Staci sheathed her sword and waited for Boyd to catch up to her before they ran through the portal together. I checked to make sure that my bow and quiver were still on my back when Ranulf placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I will answer one of your questions now for Shella." I looked at him with curiosity about Jess building up inside me. "We tried to follow the wyvern that grabbed Jess but…" His head hung low and his grip tightened on my shoulder. "Arson summoned a wall of fire around our group and it was all Shella could do to keep us from getting burned. She surrounded us with an orb of water and transported us to the forest. After that we had to wait in secret until the enemy left so that our numbers wouldn't diminish."

I knew already the outcome of his story was but I didn't have the courage to stop him; to tell him that I was okay and that I would find her myself. Truthfully I didn't know if I had the strength to face Daein and Arson again.

"After Daein left I took Lethe and a few trusted laguz into the town. There was no sign of Jess, remaining soldiers, and no trace of where they went. Plus…" Ranulf let go of my shoulder and balled up his fists in frustration. "All the townsfolk…they…"

I didn't want him to torture himself so I grabbed his arms in a desperate attempt to bring him comfort.

"I…I understand but promise me that you won't beat yourself up over this. It was mostly my fault that I couldn't get to Jess in time to prevent what happened; to Kieran and to her. It's okay, because I will become stronger and Staci and I will bring her back to us." I said trying to sound confident.

Ranulf looked at me and relaxed into a small smile. He nodded his head and said, "I promise you that I won't leave your side until you find Jess."

I smiled truthfully at him and together we walked through the portal with Shella right behind us. I knew that Jess was still out there, waiting for us. 'Just hold on a little longer.'

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**So the journey continues and our heros are on a mission to rescue their sister. Such a nice way to start out the second part. So the next chapter will be a little different since it will be centered around Jess. I hope to finish it up very soon and find out what you all think so keep a watchful eye open. Please review my story, I really enjoy reading your opinions about the story.**


	2. A Gnome?

**Hey everybody :). So the next chapter is a little different because I thought it would be fun to check up on poor Jess. The chapters of this particular part of the story will alternate so you, my readers, will get to see what happening with Brenna and Staci, and with Jess. I really hope you like this chapter! Enjoy -**

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**Chapter II. A Gnome?? **

A dim light flickered in the dungeon as a slight breeze brushed past. Shallow breathing came from one of the cells along with the occasional moan. Footsteps began to sound from the stairs which in turn caused the entire dungeon to fill with whispers. The footsteps belonged to two foot soldiers from Daein. They walked past the cells enjoying the superior feeling they had over the cowering prisoners when they finally stopped at the cell that was home to the shallow breather. One of the soldiers pulled out a dirty and corroded key and slipped it into the keyhole. The door made a loud "thunk" as it unlocked and the door squeaked open to reveal a scrawny old man. The soldiers laughed at him as he tried to turn around but before he could make it to his feet the soldiers had him by the arms, one on each end, and they dragged him out of the cell.

"I'm surprised that he lasted this long." One of the soldiers commented as the old man slumped forward.

"I'm more surprised that Lord Vince let him last this long. Normally they don't live through the first couple of weeks." The other soldier said and the both laughed at the misfortune of their prisoner.

"Well that's about to be corrected, huh slime?" the first soldier kicked the man in the side and let out another annoying guffaw.

The man gasped for air in quiet wheezes and the soldiers just continued to drag him across the cold stone to the stairs. They were about to climb the stairs when one of the soldiers caught a blue light coming from one of the cells.

"Hey, Chase?"

"Yeah, Todd?"

"What is that?" Todd asked and motioned towards the blue light.

The old man gathered what strength he had and looked over his shoulder to see what Todd had meant about a blue light. In one of the cells a blue light was glowing on the floor.

"Oh that…" Chase said with disgust in his voice. "Lord Vince wanted us to pick her up from the battle in Bengian. He says she's worth something big but personally I don't think she's all there…plus she's creepy."

Todd looked at the light very curiously and inched towards it. He clenched his weapon tightly as he drew closer getting nervous but the light didn't change. Todd glanced into the cell and stared at the figure in the corner of the cell. She was glowing with the bright blue light but it seemed like there was no happiness surrounding her. She had her arms wrapped around her legs and sitting up right with her back against the wall, but her head was hanging low. Todd shuddered at the sight of her and that slight movement alerted her to his presence. She slowly raised her head and looked at him through the bars and the light started to creep over to him. Todd was so paralyzed by the light that he didn't think to move out of the way. Chase saw what was happening to his partner and ran over to him just in time to push him out of the way as the light tried to grab Todd.

"Wha? What is that thing?!" Todd asked with astonishment as the light formed into a liquid form that resembled water.

Chase and Todd didn't waste any time gawking at the water; instead they grabbed their weapons and carefully, but quickly, maneuvered around it and ran up the stairs in fear. The old man, who was left on the floor, stared at the water in shock. The water flowed over to him but it seemed as if some sort of energy was wrapped around it to keep it in a tube form. The old man froze in fear as the water surrounded him but it didn't envelope him like he thought it would. It gently picked him up and brought him over to the cell door where he could see the girl in the corner.

"_Where do you belong?" _the old man could hear the eerie voice of the girl but her lips weren't moving.

He took a deep breath when he realized that she was using her mind to talk. "Do you mean where my home is?" He asked still wary of what she was going to do.

"_Yes." _

"My family is in Crimea. I was sent to war to fight for our king because I have no sons. My wife and three daughters are in the capital…and are probably extremely worried or think I'm dead and have lost hope." He said letting the tone of his voice drop.

He felt a small tear trickle down his cheek and dropped his gaze to stare at the ground in frustration. The girl slowly stood and approached the broken man, careful out to scare him away. She kneeled in front of the door and placed her hand under the tear and let it drop onto her finger. The old man looked up at her and for the first time saw her face. It was ghostly white and her blond hair swirled around her with energy giving her a mystical look. The part that caught his attention the most were her eyes. They were blue but for some reason they looked lonely. He felt like he was getting drawn in by the depth of the sadness of this girl. He carefully lifted his hand and touched her cheek slightly but she jerked back in fear. That's when he noticed that all along her arms and neck were bruises and there was a long scratch from her hair line to her chin across her cheek.

"You've been through a lot…haven't you?" he asked but she didn't answer.

She took the tear on her finger and brought it up to her lips. She softly blew on it and the tear sparkled and stretched out into a flat circle.

"_Think of your family, your home, and nothing else."_

He closed his eyes thinking of his beloved wife and children when he felt a strange energy flow over him. He didn't feel anxious or scared but calm. He felt the girl's presence in his mind, soothing his thought of home. "Thank you." He said and the energy picked up speed. It swirled and danced around him until the same blue light flashed brightly. When the light died down the man was gone and the girl was lying on the floor exhausted.

Jess felt her power drain. She knew that using transportation drained her almost completely but she couldn't stand seeing him in that condition when she knew that she had the power to help him. Know she was feeling the effects of her kindness…exhaustion. She forced her body up to a sitting position and stared out the cell door. Her water had dispersed on the floor since she no longer had the energy to control all of it. She pointed at a small puddle and swirled her finger causing the puddle to rise into a small sphere of water.

"Be a mirror of my mind." She told the water and with the little energy she had the water did as it was told and formed into a picture of Kieran's face. She raised her hand and reached out to him but with her energy spent the water collapsed next to her.

"So you've been antagonizing my soldiers again." Jess jumped and looked up at a young man just a few years older than her and had a little more color to his skin than her, but not much. He wore a loose white shirt with a V-neck cut and black pants. He also wore fancy boots that looked like riding shoes. He had short cropped silver hair, green eyes, and a single gold earring on his left ear. "At this rate I won't be able to find anyone to take over the night guard down here." He smirked. "You're becoming more of a hassle than I expected."

Jess glared at him and tried to move away from the door but her body protested and wouldn't move. The young man sat down just on the other side of the door and leaned his head on the bars. "So how does my little dandelion feel today?" he asked and smiled at her.

Jess' anger grew but she suppressed it knowing that he would just get a kick out of her outburst. She despised him…especially the fake smile he used to mock her. She diverted her gaze from his face to the ground, letting her hair fall in front of her face so she wouldn't have to look at him…standard procedure.

"Go away Vince." Jess said still looking at the floor.

"Awww, don't be like that." Vince exclaimed and pouted at her. "I hate it when you're so distant to me." Vince stared at her to see if she reacted to what he said but like always she kept her gaze on the floor. He sighed and combed his silver hair with his fingers. "You can't keep doing this and expect me to just ignore you. That wouldn't be the polite thing to do…" He looked at her again but this time his smile was gone and his eyes had a menacing look to them. "Eventually you will open up to me and do what I want or else…" He leaned in close to the bars and his presence made Jess shiver. "I'll stop being so nice to you." Jess hugged her legs close to her to calm her shaking hands. "I'll come back down and visit you soon my dandelion." Vince said and slowly stood and walked off, leaving Jess in the dark, alone once again.

'I can't stand him! One of these days I'll sock him right in the jaw and send him flying. Or I could use my water to drown him in his own personal bubble.' Jess thought to herself and she calmed down thinking about her enemy struggling for breath. "I hate him." she said to the darkness.

But the darkness answered back.

"Well if you would stop ignoring him and humor his personality a little bit then he would probably seem like less of a jerk." Startled, Jess looked around in her cell and saw a small figure in her corner. "But of course you would still have to deal with his arrogance which believe me can get pretty old after the first few hundred monologues."

"Who are you?" Jess asked trying to see the newcomer.

"Allow me to introduce myself." A little man with a pointy blue hat, a red shirt, green pants, red shoes, a green jacket and a pipe, walked forward into the light from the small window. "I'm Bartholomew. I've come, on orders, to help you out."

Jess just stared at his little body. He couldn't have been taller than her knee and yet he had the start of a beard and a deep voice like a grown man. Suddenly a connection to her world popped into her head.

"You're a gnome." Jess said bluntly.

Bartholomew seemed to be flustered by the last comment and his face grew red in frustration. He puffed on his pipe a couple times and took a deep breath. He cleared his throat and tried to pull himself together before he spoke. "I'm not a gnome…I am a small magical creature of great intelligence." He said with a proper voice.

"………you're a gnome." Jess said with finality.

"Wha?! Now listen hear young lady. I do not like to sit on lawns and I don't have rosy cheeks or a fancy white beard!! My size is just a normal thing I need to deal with but it does not make me a 'gnome'." He said and had to take a deep breath again.

Jess looked at him and started to giggle. "…gnome."

Bartholomew slapped his forehead and sighed. "Why do I get all the incompetent teenage girls? For once I would like to look after and advise a scholar or a noble, heck even a family man or woman, but oh no! I get stuck with all the hormonal, crazy, giggling, teenage girls!!"

"Wait, how is someone as small as you able to help me? I mean, it's not like you can handle a sword or an ax, and I'm pretty sure you're not picking up a lance any time soon." Jess asked letting a little bit of her sarcasm escape through.

"You have issues…" Bartholomew stated and Jess became serious. "…and I was sent here to help you with your problems…….Maybe that's why I don't get scholars, they don't have issues." He said the last part to himself but Jess ignored him.

"I'm sorry, but unless you can defeat the entire Daein army, kill a possessed fire sister, reunite me with my sisters and bring back the dead then I don't think you can help me." Jess said letting her sadness peak out in her voice.

Bartholomew walked over to Jess and cupped her chin in his little hand. He forced her to look at her and smiled. "Don't write me off, just yet. You might want to hear what I have to say and then you can decide for yourself whether or not someone like me can help you." He said with confidence.

He released her and she looked at him in astonishment. Her heart started to beat fast as she thought of the possibility of leaving the darkness of the cell and walking in the sun again.

* * *

**Wow! Yay for new characters!! Alright so now whats gonna happen? I kind of made Jess a little "not quite there", but I guess that's understandable when the love of her life died before her eyes. It was very interesting to write this chapter and I loved writing about Bartholomew. I hoped you enjoyed and please tell me what you think. Later. **


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